Athens High girls basketball coach Eddie Murphree was presented with a commemorative basketball after winning his 300th game as the Golden Eagles head coach. Athens defeated Cullman 66-56 on Monday night to give Murphree his milestone victory. Murphree has been the head coach of the Athens girls basketball team for the past 15 years.

What might just have been an ordinary early season win for the Athens girls basketball team was much more for Golden Eagles coach Eddie Murphree. When the clock ran out on Athens’ 66-56 win over Cullman Monday night, it meant a special milestone for the long-time Athens coach — his 300th career head coaching victory.

Murphree, who has been the head coach at Athens for 15 years, was presented with a commemorative basketball after the game and congratulated by the players who made his 300th victory happen.

“This (milestone) means I’ve been blessed beyond measure by the good Lord,” Murphree said. “I have had the honor and privilege of getting to work with some of the best young people our country has to offer. These kids are truly a blessing to me.”

Murphree has coached a lot of players in his 15 years and said each one of them has been special to him.

“I don’t think the community understands the type of people involved in this program,” he said. “If young people were like this all over the country, we would be in pretty good shape.”

Murphree’s 300th victory didn’t come easy, as Cullman hung right with Athens through three quarters before the Golden Eagles were able to pull away in the fourth behind Alexis Woods, who scored 10 of her 25 points in the final frame.

“The girls found a way to grind it out,” Murphree said. “Their legs were a little heavy after playing Friday night in Decatur and then Saturday in the Hartselle tournament, but they showed a lot of heart and determination to grind out a win.”

Athens outscored Cullman by one point in each of the first three quarters, taking a 28-26 halftime lead and 47-44 lead after three quarters. The inside duo of Stacia Benford and Woods was dominant in the paint, as they got inside for numerous layups against the smaller Bearcats, but turnovers kept Cullman in the game.

After opening the fourth quarter with three straight turnovers and seeing the Bearcats tie the score at 47, Woods scored eight consecutive points to give Athens a 57-47 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Cullman never got within seven points the remainder of the game.

Woods led the way with 25 points, while Benford scored 18.

In addition to those two, Murphree was pleased with the play of his point guard Jakayla Bridgeforth, who scored six points and kept a steady presence during the game.

“I’m very excited for Jakayla,” Murphree said. “She is our senior leader and ball-handler, and she showed her true senior leadership tonight.”

Athens (4-0) continued play in the Hartselle Thanksgiving Tournament Tuesday night against Midfield. The tournament continues through today.

Athens boys 55, Cullman 50

It might not have been the prettiest game for Athens coach Stace Tedford, but he will take the victory.

Athens nearly blew a 9-point fourth-quarter lead and saw Cullman cut the lead to one point on two different occasions before the Eagles hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to pull away for the win.

“We were never in sync offensively,” Tedford said. “We were not good on that side of the ball. We had some good transition opportunities we finished off, but we were not good at half-court offense.”

The two teams went back and forth the entire game, with Cullman holding a 17-16 lead after one quarter and the teams tied 25-25 at halftime. Athens’ defense held Cullman to just eight points in the third quarter and took a 39-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Golden Eagles extended the lead to 42-33 with 7:00 remaining before the Bearcats starting hitting 3-pointers to close the gap. A 3-pointer by Drew Morton cut the Athens lead to 49-48 with 2:35 left, but Cameron Turner answered with a driving layup to give the Eagles a 51-48 lead with 1:45 remaining. Dylan Finch’s basket brought Cullman to within one point again with 40 seconds left, but Isaiah Gilbert and Chandler Leopard connected on all four of their free throw attempts in the final 25 seconds to ice the game.

“It was a strange game,” Tedford said. “I don’t think either team played as well as they could play. I don’t know if they were looking forward to Thanksgiving or school being out or what, but I’ll take a win no matter what it looks like.”

Tyler Williams led Athens with 14 points, while Turner had 12 and Leopard chipped in with 11. Cullman was led by Zane Manly with 14 points.